Message to Carolina Families from Vice Chancellor Amy Johnson

October 14, 2021 | |

Supporting Your UNC Student: Wellness Resources for Families

Dear Carolina Families, 

Over the last couple of days, we have forwarded you messages to our community from Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz addressing the mental health crisis we are seeing on our campus and across the nation. We are mourning the tragic loss of the lives of two Carolina students on campus over the past month, and we know this is a difficult time for many members of our community. Yesterday we took a Wellness Day as one step to address our mental health – to rest, reflect and check in on one another.

I wanted to check in with you, our Carolina families, to let you know how we are supporting our students and providing resources to help. You may find more information about our initial response here, and we will continue to share details about further steps.

As the Chancellor noted, addressing a broad-based crisis with a long history among college-aged students cannot be solved in one day or by a few people. While Carolina faculty, staff, students and campus leaders are working together to address this issue on our campus in a variety of ways, I want to share some resources with our families that can be used to support your students through these challenging times.

I encourage you to reach out to your students often over the coming days and ask them how they are doing. Let them know you are available to help, to talk through events in their lives, or to chat about any pressures or anxiety they may be experiencing. If they aren’t doing well, encourage them to access the wide array of resources we have on campus, from CAPS, to Student Wellness, to our Dean of Students team. If you are concerned about your student and think they need help, please let us know.  

Here are a few helpful guides about supporting a student who may be struggling right now:

We are, as ever, so grateful to our Carolina families for the love and care you give your students. We are committed to helping them through the challenges they face, to use their college experience to grow and become increasingly more resilient and confident in themselves, and to have an incredible learning experience at Carolina.

We are glad to work with you, our partners in your students’ success, to support our Tar Heels today and every day. 

Sincerely,

Amy Johnson, Ed.D. 

Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs

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